This is an activity about light. Learners will make their own spectroscopes from easily obtainable materials and use prisms to observe different types of white light sources to see the colors that form the visible light spectrum. This is Activity 2...(View More) of the Sun As a Star afterschool curriculum.(View Less)

In this activity, students learn that infrared light is reflected in the same manner as visible light. Students align a series of mirrors so that they can turn on a TV with a remote control when the remote is not in a direct line with the TV. As a...(View More) result of their experiment with reflection, students deduce that infrared light is another form of light and is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Section 1 of the activity guide includes teacher notes, information on materials and preparation, student misconceptions and a student pre-test. Each activity section also includes teacher notes, student activity sheets, and answer keys. This activity requires a TV and remote control. It is the third of four activities in Active Astronomy, which are designed to complement instruction on the electromagnetic spectrum, focusing on infrared light.(View Less)

This is an activity about ultraviolet light. Learners will make ultraviolet light detector bracelets and use them to experiment with artificial light and sunlight. Then, they experiment with various sun-blocking materials to see how such materials...(View More) impact the beads' absorption of ultraviolet light. Special UV detecting beads are required for this activity. This is Activity 3 of the Sun As a Star afterschool curriculum.(View Less)

In this experiment, students replicate a version of the 1800 experiment in which a form of radiation other than visible light was discovered by the famous astronomer Sir Frederick William Herschel. Students use glass prisms, thermometers, and...(View More) sunlight to detect the increase in temperature beyond the red end of the visible spectrum, thus detecting infrared light.(View Less)

This activity introduces the primary colors of light. Satellites transmit images to us as a series of numbers, and this activity is designed to show how numbers are combined to create images using the primary colors of light. Students work in groups...(View More) to create different colors using flashlights with red, blue, and green theatrical gels. Students create a numerical code to represent colors of light, experiment with building colors using the code, and complete a color mixing table.(View Less)

Students identify the actual colors of objects bathed in monochromatic light and learn how three colors of light can be combined to produce colors ranging from black to white. Students see how space observatories make use of monochromatic filters to...(View More) collect data on the color of objects in space. The activity is in unit four of the "Space-Based Astronomy" guide that contains background information, worksheets, assessment activities, extensions, and alignment to national education standards.(View Less)

In this activity, learners will explore the properties of color filters and filter bandpass by observing light sources using diffraction grating and color filters and create a graph of percent transmission versus wavelength to characterize the...(View More) bandpass of the filter. This activity requires various light sources, a diffraction grating, and two or more color filters that are transparent to some wavelengths of light and opaque, or nearly opaque, at other wavelengths. This is an activity in the Touch the Sun educator guide.(View Less)

This is an activity about how light travels. Learners will perform two experiments. The first explores blocking light to create shadows. The second asks learners to use mirrors to figure out that light travels in a straight line. This is Activity 4...(View More) of the Sun As a Star afterschool curriculum. This activity requires use of a room that can be darkened.(View Less)

Through the use of prisms and glue sticks, this activity introduces students to a fundamental property of light: white light is made up of colors representing different wavelengths. Students use the results of the activity to explain the variation...(View More) in sky color from daytime (blue) to sunset (red). This lesson is one of four in the GLOBE program storybook entitled, "What's Up in the Atmosphere? Exploring Colors in the Sky." GLOBE (Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on, K-12 school-based science education program.(View Less)

Learners will use a spectrograph to gather data about light sources. Using the data they’ve collected, students are able to make comparisons between different light sources and make conjectures about the composition of a mystery light source. The...(View More) activity is part of Project Spectra, a science and engineering program for middle-high school students, focusing on how light is used to explore the Solar System.(View Less)